Tigers tab speedy California prep CF Derek Hill with first-round pick

Outfielder Derek Hill from Elk Grove High School in Sacramento, California, posts his name on the board at the 2014 MLB baseball draft Thursday, June 5, 2014, in Secaucus, N.J. Hill was selected by the Detroit Tigers with the 23rd pick in the first round.
BILL KOSTROUN — The Associated Press

A guest at the New Jersey MLB Draft headquarters for Thursday’s proceedings, high school center fielder Derek Hill was asked his favorite player.

He did not hesitate in his answer, naming Detroit Tigers right fielder Torii Hunter, the nine-time Gold Glove winner.

When — and if — Hill signs, he’ll be in the same organization.

The Tigers selected the speedster from Elk Grove High School in California with the 23rd pick in the first round of the MLB Draft.

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He’s the first prep position player the Tigers have drafted in the first round since they took Cameron Maybin with the 10th pick in 2005. (The Tigers took Nick Castellanos in the supplemental first round in 2010.)

“Derek is an excellent hitter, a great defensive outfielder and has electric speed,” said the Tigers’ vice president of amateur scouting, David Chadd. “We’re pleased to have the opportunity to add him to our organization.”

A University of Oregon recruit, the 6-foot-2, 195-pound Hill is one of the fastest players in the draft, running a sub-6.4-second 60-yard dash, and is the best defensive outfielder. His father, Orsino, a former minor-league player, is an area scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“My dad tells me to be humble and to appreciate this,” Hill told the Sacramento Bee. “I’ve been around the game my entire life, so I know how to act, what to say. It was a little more nerve-wracking at first for games but I just did the best I could, but it’s been an absolute blast. We’re almost there. Can’t wait.”

Several of the Tigers’ other favorite prospects — UNLV starter Erick Fedde, Virginia closer Nick Howard, TCU lefty Brandon Finnegan, Wichita St. first baseman Casey Gillaspie — went in the picks right before Detroit’s.

The Tigers have only drafted 23rd overall once before, in 1979, selecting Livonia High’s Chris Baker, as a compensatory pick for losing free agent Jim Slaton to the Brewers.

After going away from their normal modus operandi of selecting power arms by taking a high school position player in the first round, the Tigers went right back to the norm in the second round, tabbing Alabama right-hander Spencer Turnbull with the 63rd overall pick.

The 6-foot-3, 230-pounder features a fastball that sits in the mid-90s (hitting as high as 98 mph) making him profile as a guy who might end up in the bullpen in the future. He also has a slider that could develop into a better-than-average pitch, and a change-up, so he could remain as a starter, as well.